Arts & Culture

New Book “Camp Camp” Brings Back Wet Hot American Summers of Yesteryear

We all know that you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but we just saw the cover of Camp Camp: Where Fantasy Island Meets Lord of the Flies, and we have already decided that it is awesome. … Read More

Camp Camp is the new brainchild ofRoger Bennett and Jules Shell, who in 2005 brought us the extremely entertaining Bar Mitzvah Disco, a compilation of the most outrageously awkward photographs and hilarious memories from the bar mitzvahs of 1960-1980.Camp Camp is intended to be the sequel to the Bar Mitzvah book and features a similar genre of deliciously embarrassing snapshots, this time from inside the sleep away camp.As usual, Bennett and Shell have provided their readers with accompanying essays from a star-studded list of writers including A.J. Jacobs, David Wain, Rachel Sklar, and Sloane Crosley.The subjects are young adults now – they’ve had their bar mitzvahs and have stashed away their powder blue suits for the summer, trading them in for velour track shorts and knee-high socks.Everyone’s a little bit older, a little bit smarter, and a little bit sexier…or at least, they’re trying to act like it.

The book officially comes out tomorrow, but if you can’t wait till then, you can check out a juicy excerpt over at Radar entitled “20 Acts of Violence That Say ‘I Love You’” in which former campers describe their favorite ways to lovingly torture their fellow bunkmates.You can also play along and submit your own memories, or just read and reminisce at the Camp Camp blog.